Is It Time to Replace
Your Rodent Caging?
Studies show that BPA has harmful effects on laboratory animals.
Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is a difunctional building block of several important plastics and plastic additives. Suspected of being hazardous to humans since the 1930s, concerns about the use of Bisphenol A in consumer products were regularly reported in the news media in 2008 after several governments issued reports questioning its safety, and some retailers have removed products made of it from their shelves.
When it comes to animal housing, the biggest BPA-related concern is the fact that nearly all washable rodent caging solutions contain BPA, since it allows cages to withstand high-temperature wash and sterilization.
A number of recent studies have shown BPA to have harmful effects on laboratory animals. The table below lists the most common BPA-induced effect on labolatory mice.
BPA IN THE NEWS
Why BPA Leached From 'Safe' Plastics May Damage Health of Female Offspring
(FEB, 2010 | PHYSORG.COM) New research published online in The FASEB Journal suggests that exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy leads to epigenetic changes that may cause permanent reproduction problems for female offspring. continue to the article »»BPA IN YOUR LAB
"Does caging used in our facility contain BPA?"
If your facility uses traditional washable rodent caging, chances are, it does.
TThere are two major types of pastic used to produce the traditional (washable) cages used in rodent facilities - Polycarbonate and Polysulfone.
Polycarbonate (PC) ,Aei The primary plastic used to make rodent cages for many years that has been shown to readily leach BPA, particularly under conditions of repeated heating and washing.
Polysulfone (PES) ,Aei This plastic also contains BPA, but has different binding properties so will leach BPA less than polycarbonate.
One study that examined plastic cages made from this material looked at new cages and showed some leaching occurred.
To our knowledge, there have been no studies that examine whether leaching occurs in older polysulfone cages.
Table 1. EFFECTS OF BPA on Rodent Population |
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References: |
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1 Markey CM, Wadia PR, Rubin BS, Sonnenschein C, Soto AM (2005)."Long-term effects of fetal exposure to low doses of the xenoestrogen
bisphenol-A in the female mouse genital tract". 2 Mu/+/-oz-de-Toro M, Markey CM, Wadia PR, et al (2005)."Perinatal exposure to bisphenol-A alters peripubertal
mammary gland development in mice". 3 Newbold, R.; Jefferson, N.; Padilla-Banks, E. (Jun 2009)."Prenatal exposure to bisphenol a at environmentally relevant
doses adversely affects the murine female reproductive tract later in life". 4 Nagel SC, vom Saal FS, Thayer KA, Dhar MG, Boechler M, Welshons WV (1997).
"Relative binding affinity-serum modified access (RBA-SMA) assay predicts the relative in vivo bioactivity of
the xenoestrogens bisphenol A and octylphenol". |
5 Honma S, Suzuki A, Buchanan DL, Katsu Y, Watanabe H, Iguchi T (2002). "Low dose effect
of in utero exposure to bisphenol A and diethylstilbestrol on female mouse reproduction".
6 Akingbemi BT, Sottas CM, Koulova AI, Klinefelter GR, Hardy MP (2004). "Inhibition of testicular steroidogenesis by the xenoestrogen bisphenol A is associated with reduced pituitary luteinizing hormone secretion and decreased steroidogenic enzyme gene expression in rat Leydig cells". 7 Murray TJ, Maffini MV, Ucci AA, Sonnenschein C, Soto AM (2007). "Induction of mammary gland ductal hyperplasias
and carcinoma in situ following fetal bisphenol A exposure".
8 Ho SM, Tang WY, Belmonte de Frausto J, Prins GS (2006). "Developmental exposure to estradiol and bisphenol A increases susceptibility to prostate carcinogenesis and epigenetically regulates phosphodiesterase type 4 variant 4".
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9 Palanza PL, Howdeshell KL, Parmigiani S, vom Saal FS (2002). "Exposure to a low dose of bisphenol A during fetal life or in adulthood alters maternal behavior in mice". 10 Kubo K, Arai O, Omura M, Watanabe R, Ogata R, Aou S (2003). "Low dose effects of bisphenol A on sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior in rats".
11 Adewale, B.; Jefferson, N.; Newbold, R.; Patisaul, B. (Jun 2009). "Neonatal Bisphenol-A Exposure Alters Rat Reproductive Development
and Ovarian Morphology Without Impairing Activation of Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Neurons"
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Downloadable / Free Resources |
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"Bisphenol A is released from used polycarbonate animal cages into water at room temperature" - Research
Environmental Health Perspectives, July, 2003 by Kembra L. Howdeshell,etc.
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"Bisphenol A Exposure Causes Meiotic Aneuploidy in the Female Mouse Patricia" A. Hunt, Kara E. Koehler, Martha Susiarjo, Craig A. Hodges,etc.
click to download PDF version »»
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"BPA and Plastic Lab Animal Cages - When Disaster Strikes: Rethinking Caging Materials" - Lab Animal v.32, n.4, Apr03; Kara E. Koehler, PhD, Robert C. Voigt et al.
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